Viaduct for small, powered, passenger vehicles

ABSTRACT

The viaduct comprises an enclosed and windowed way or flat road, wide enough for two vehicles abreast, the vehicles each having a forwardly and upwardly extending mast. The way is elevated and is arranged in successive portions comprised of comparatively long downwardly sloping portions followed by comparatively short upwardly sloping lift portions having overhead, endless belt means engageable by friction pad means at the upper ends of the vehicle masts for towing the vehicles up the lifts to another downward slope where the vehicle is released to coast or be driven by power furnished by the driver or by a battery powered electric motor. Entrance and exit ramps are provided for entering vehicles and for those leaving for street level. The lift belt is stainless steel supported on drive rollers and a low friction slider bed. The friction pad is offset from the mast and comprises a pad with a rubber working surface layer lying adjacent another body having a surface of low friction material, the pad being spring-biased downward against the belt by novel lever means to prevent excessive initial friction of the pad with the belt in the case of a low speed entry of a vehicle to the lift. Ceiling supported guide rails are provided at each side of the downslopes and similar converging rails are provided for guiding the mast tops to the lift belts.

United StatesPatent 191 Howells et al.

[ Aug. 27, 1974 VIADUCT FOR SMALL, POWERED,

PASSENGER VEHICLES [75] Inventors: Paul W. Howells, Morrisville; EdwinH. Lederer, Syracuse; Robert N. Lothes, Manlius, all of NY.

[73] Assignee: Syracuse University Research Corporation, Syracuse, NY.

22 Filed: Oct. 26, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 410,165

[52] US. Cl... 104/121, 104/88, 104/69, 104/113, 104/172 R, 105/147 R[51] Int. Cl E0lb 25/08 [58] Field of Search 104/69, 70, 53 R, 88, 113,104/118, 121, 147 R, 165, 172 R, 172B, 172' Primary ExaminerM. HensonWood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-D. W. Keen Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bruns &Jenney [57] ABSTRACT The viaduct comprises an enclosed and windowed wayor flat road, wide enough for two vehicles abreast, the vehicles eachhaving a forwardly and upwardly extending mast. The way is elevated andis arranged in successive portions comprised of comparatively longdownwardly sloping portions followed by comparatively short upwardlysloping lift portions having overhead, endless belt means engageable byfriction pad means at the upper ends of the vehicle masts for towing thevehicles up the lifts to another downward slope where the vehicle isreleased to coast or be driven by power furnished by the driver orby abattery powered electric motor. Entrance and exit ramps are provided forentering vehicles and for those leaving for street level. The lift beltis stainless steel supported on drive rollers and a low friction sliderbed. The friction pad is offset from the mast and comprises a pad with arubber working surface layer lying adjacent another body having asurface of low friction material, the pad being spring-biased downwardagainst the belt by novel lever means to prevent excessive initialfriction of the pad with the belt in the case of a low speed entry of avehicle to the lift. Ceiling supported guide rails are provided at eachside-of the downslopes and similar converging rails are provided forguiding the mast tops to the lift belts.

10 Claims, 18 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUBZ'HQH 3,831,526

SHEET 30$ 5 PATENTEDAUBZYIBM SHEETSUFS 1 VIADUCT FOR SMALL, POWERED,PASSENGER VEHICLES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates ingeneral to transportation systems and to wheeled vehicles for usetherein and in particular to a low speed, passenger carrying system,wherein a way has. downslopes followed by upslopes having overheadendless belt lifts for carrying the vehicles thereup and wherein thevehicles carry a mast terminating in a novel grabber-mechanismengageable by the lift, the vehicles being also powered for off-the-waytravel.

Prior art transportation systems having downslopes followed by elevatingmeans have employed cable or rail supported vehicles and have hadcomplicated elevating meansusually requiring a halt to the forwardmotion of the vehicles. Furthermore, because of the arrangement of thecable or the tracks, the vehicles are required to follow one another insingle file. Two wheel and four wheel vehicles with masts haveheretofore been known but both overhead and wheel engaging guides havebeen required or, where the masts have been engageable by endless beltmeans, the vehicles must follow one another in single file because theyhave been track supported or because of the nature of the engagement ofthe mast with the endless belt means. i

Other systems for mass transportation employ highspeed, train-typevehicles not practical for individual transportation, or requirecomplicated computer-type traffic control, or expensive electronicguidance systems embedded in highway pavement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The transportation system contemplated by thepresent system is-for mass transportation using a plurality of vehicleswhich are usable on a covered way, either as a commuter-serving systemwith intercommunicating ways running in opposite directions on parallelstreets in the urban section and with more widely spaced ways in thesuburbs, or as transportationsys tems on large campuses, factorycomplexes or amusement parks. The vehicles are lightweight and adaptedfor powered movement either on the ways or on surface roads off theways. Two, three or four wheel vehicles may be used, the vehicle to beowned by the passenger and used similarly to hislautomobile or to beowned by thesystem operators and supplied to thee public for rental orotherwise.

The unidirectional ways are wide enough for two or more vehicles abreastand are preferably covered, windowed and supported on'pillars adapted tobe installed.

along existing streets. The ways are in successive cascades offrelatively long and moderately downwardly sloped sections on which thevehicles may coast or pass one another under power, interspersed withrelatively short and, steeply upwardly sloped sections each having apowered, overhead, endless-belt lift. It is only at the lifts that thevehicles must follow in single file and two or more lifts abreast areusually provided for .the upwardly sloped sections. Suitable ramps, downfor exits and up for entrances, are provided at intervals andinterchange ramps, with 'or without a lift, are provided for change indirection of travel.

having a low friction upper surface and the lower run Each of thevehicles is provided with aforwardly and upwardly projecting mast. Thesemasts are somewhat flexible tension masts rather than the heretoforeknown rigid cantilever masts. Each-mast carries a novel, friction typegrabber mechanism or clutch laterally offset at the mast end forengagement with the top run of a thin flexible, polished stainless steelendless belt.

Means are provided, at the lower end of the lift, for automaticallyreceiving the grabber and, at the top of the lift, for automaticallyreleasing the grabber with minimum change in speed.

Each downslope is provided with an overhead guide rail at each side ofthe way to prevent the vehicle from hitting the way side. Just beforeeach lift section, similarconverging rails are provided for guiding thevehicle to one or the other lift. Due to the nature of the vehicle, themasts of bicycles and some types of three wheeled vehicles may beattached to the frame but for other tricycles and four wheel vehiclesthe mast is connected to the steering mechanism for turning the vehiclein one direction or the other when the grabber sides come in contactwith one or the other of the guide rails.

Each lift belt is enclosed except for an entrance and exit and travelpath for the mast and grabber. The upper run is supported by a sliderbed of sheet material is similarly supported by sheet material having alow friction working'surface. A guide for the grabber assembly and masttop is provided along one side of each belt.

The novel grabber assembly comprises a disk-like pad having a workingsurface of a high density rubber,

the pad being loosely surrounded by a ring of low friction material andbeing movable up and down to a limited extent-within the ring. The ringand pad are angularly offset with respect to the clutch or grabber body.so as to be adapted to have the pad andd ring working surfaces flatonthe lift belt.

The ring is connected by a bracket to the grabber body angularlyprojecting from the body. The pad has one end of a downwardly projectingportion of a lever engaged therewith.

The lever is a lever of the second class extending across the hollowinterior of the grabber body. The fulcrum end of this lever is pivotallyconnected to the grabber body and the other longer end is pivotallyconnected by elongated linear elements down the hollow mast to springmeans which bias the pad downward in the ring.

Two pins secured in the pad ring bracket are telescopically received inholes in the pad itself guiding the movement of the pad in relation tothe ring along a line of movement parallel to the angular direction thebracket projects from the grabber body. When the pressure of the pad onthe belt is too great, so as to cause a too sudden increase in theforward velocity of a slowly entering vehicle, the pad is forced up intothe ring, by reason of its spring bias, and the ring of low gage withthe belt to provide tension on the mast just sufficient to carry thevehicle up the ramp at the chosen speed. Speeds of from 15 to 20 milesper hour are contemplated for the lifts and similar coasting speeds forthe downslopes.

Transportation systems with a plurality of small ca pacity vehicles eachcapable of individual and separate routing, such as that describedherein, have recently been classified by the publishing media asparatransit systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary, sideelevational view of 21 viaduct embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, perspective, sectional view on the line 22 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical, fragmentary, perspective view of an upslopeportion of the viaduct of FIG. 1 with the roof portion removed and shownin phantom lines;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, diagrammatical, transverse cross-sectional viewof a lift and the upper portion of a vehicle mast with attached grabberdevice, the grabber being shown in a position adapted to engage inendless belt which is not shown;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, diagrammatical, side elevational view of a liftwith the support beam omitted and other portions cut away;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view in more detail of the lift on theline 66 of FIG. 5, the grabber being shown in a lifted position as itenters the lift;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side elevational view of the grabber device asviewed from the left in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view on the line 99 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the grabber device ofFIG. 7, certain parts being omitted;

FIG. I] is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a vehicle mastshowing pressure adjusting mechanism for the grabber spring;

FIG. 12, on sheet 2 of the drawings, is a sectional view on line 12-12of FIG. I1;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of a vehicle mastshowing a grabber disconnect mechanism for a bicycle;

FIG. 14 is another side elevational view of a grabber device showing theside opposite to that shown in FIG. 7, a portion being cut away forclarity;

FIGS. 15 and 16 are fragmentary side elevational views ofa viaductsimilar to FIG. I showing the viaduct applied to an uphill contour and adownhill contour of the ground, respectively;

FIG. I7 is a diagrammatical perspective view of a viaduct crossing andinterchange between viaducts for travel in directions at an angle of 90,the floor or roadbed only of each viaduct being shown; an

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary view of a vehicle for travel on the viaductshowing a connection between the vehicle mast and the steering mechanismof the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1-3inclusive, the viaduct 20 of the present invention comprises a way 21,shown in section in FIG. 2, having a floor or roadbed 22, a roof 23, andsides including sidewalls 24 and windows 25 enclosing the way forprotection of the passengers. The way 21 is preferably elevated,supported on cantilever arms 26 from pillars 27 so that ground spaceunder the way may be used for ground travel.

Viaduct 20 has downslope portions 28 interspersed with upslope portions29, each upslope portion having one or more endless belt lifts 30. Eachway is for travel in one direction only, as shown by the arrows, and theend of each downslope may merge arcuately with the succeeding upslopeportion, the radius of the are r being of the order of and each upslopemay merge arcuately with the succeeding downslope portion, the radius ofthe latter are R being of the order of I50.

The way 21 is wide enough for two or more vehicles abreast, typically 9wide for two vehicles 31, the vehicles being small and lightweight andbeing either two, three or four wheeled. The roadbed 22 is substantiallyplanar and vehicles are rubber-tired. Each vehicle has an upwardly andforwardly inclined mast 32 terminating in a grabber device 33. The mast32 for bicycles and for tricycles with a caster type steered wheel maybe secured directly to the vehicle frame but the masts for the othervehicles must be connected to the vehicle steering mechanism so thatpressure on one side of the mast causes the vehicle to be steered towardthe opposite side. Such a connection will hereinafter be described.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, each downslope portion 28 hasan overhead,guiderail 34 at each side of the way supported from the sub-roof ceiling23a and adapted to contact the upper end of the masts for steering thevehicles away from contact with the way sidewalls 24. At the end of eachdownslope another overhead guiderail or rails 35 is provided convergingon either side with each of the guiderails 34 to guide the mast top intothe entrance of each lift 30 as shown in FIG. 3, two parallel liftsbeing shown. A rubber flipper 35A, or other antistall mechanism, may beprovided at the apex of guiderail 35.

Each vehicle 31 has a source of power, foot pedals for the bicycle andmotor means, not shown, for the other vehicles, preferably a batteryoperated electric motor for environmental reasons. The downslopes 28have approximately a Il /2% slope and each lift at the upslopes isdesigned to raise the vehicles 10' in a distance of 60 or about a 17%slope.

The comparatively gentle downslope is adapted to carry a coastingvehicle at approximately a 15 to 20 mile per hour speed and the liftsare run at a speed designed to tow a vehicle up the upslope atsubstantially the same speed. Since the guiderails 34 overlie the outersides of the roadbed 22, they are widely spaced and vehicles may bespeeded up by the driver applying power to pass a slower coastingvehicle on the comparatively long downslopes, each vehicle beingsteerable by the driver.

Each lift 30 has an endless belt adapted to be engaged by gripping meansin the grabber device 33 at the top of the vehicle mast. It will beapparent that the endless belt may be of any flexible material, rope,leather, fabric or any other conventional belt material and the grabberdevice may have means for engaging the belt on opposite sides or forfrictionally engaging the belt. For reasons of wear resistance and forautomatic engagement and disengagement of the grabber with and from thebelt, the novel lift and grabber device, now described, is preferred.

7 now readily obtainable and weldable at a seamless joint by moderntechniques. The belt is supported by rollers 37 at each end (FIG. 5) oneof which is driven by a motor 38. Preferably the drive speed is manuallyset by a variable speed device indicated at 39.

The upper run 36a (FIG. 6) of the belt is supported throughout itslength by the belt support assembly 40, the upper surface of which has asheet or strip 41 of filled teflon or similar material whose coefficientof friction is less than 0.15 against stainless steel so that the beltis supported by its slider bed with minimum friction.

The belt support 40 comprises the upper channel member 42, to whichsheet 41 is secured and the lower angle member 43, one flange of whichhas a sheet 44 of low friction material secured thereto on which thelower run 36b of the belt rides. The support assembly completelyencloses the lower run of the belt.

One flange of channel 42 is bolted to a roof or ceiling supported beam45 as at 46 and a diagonal brace 47 has one end bolted to beam 45 at 48,the other end of the brace being bolted to the angle 51 and channelmember at 49, as shown. The side flange 50 of angle 43 is secured at 49ato the other flange of channel 42. Angle 51 has an upper flange whichacts as a retainer or hold down guide for the belt upper run 360 andanother retainer or guide for the opposite edge of the belt is providedby the angle 52bolted to beam 45.

At each lift entrance a channel shaped entrance guide 53 is provided toguide the mast and grabber 33 until the grabber engages the belt.

Referring to, FIG. 5, the entrance guide 53 is thereshown cutaway toreveal a curved grabber Iiift plate 54 whose upper edge is carefullyshaped to lift the grabber 33 upon its entrance to the lift and then torelease the grabber onto the belt with the least shock at the belt speedcontemplated. The lift plate 54 is shown in contact with an appropriateportion of grabber 33 in FIG. 6. A similar release plate 55 is shown inFIG. 5, its upper edge being curved so as to remove the grabber fromengagement with the belt and to release it gradually without bouncing orbending'of the mast.

It will be apparent that instead of each lift 30 shown inserted betweenthe lower ends of the grabber body and the end of the slot in the neckas shown in FIG. 14.

The upper surface of grabber body 58 has a bent plate 63 secured theretoby screws 64. The forward end of plate 63 has an extension angle 63asecured thereto and the upwardly directed flange of angle 63a carries anaxle 65 on which are journalled a pair of wheels 66 (FIGS. 7 and 8) toprevent the grabber from harmful contact with the ceiling 23a orentrance guides 53. At each side, plate 63 has a curved plate 67pivotally secured by a bracket 68 to a tubular swivel 69 pivotallysecured to bent plate 63, as shown. The outer surface of each plate 67has a layer 70 of a furry material secured thereto for deadening thesound of any engage ment of plate 67 with 'guiderails 34 or 35. Theplates 67 are-capable of limited movement only, in either direction,with respect to bent plate 63.

The grabber body 58 is U-shaped, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 14 and a lever71 of the second class lies in the hollow of the body having one endpivotally connected to body 58 by a pin 72 (FIG. 14). The opposite, freein FIG. 3, each lift may comprise two lift sections, as

shown, in tandem, one after the other, when it is desired to lift thevehicles up a substantially greater height or to provide steppedacceleration at an entrance.

Referring now to FIGS. 7l0 and 14, the grabber device 33 is shown indetail. In FIG. 7, showing the grabber device as viewed from the left inFIG. 6, the mast 32, which extends upward from the vehicle at an angleof substantially 60 from the roadbed 22,"is shown fragmentarily insection and the grabber has a portion 56 which fits down into the hollowmast at its top and is secured thereto by the screws 57.

Portion 56 is integral with or welded to an elongated. hollow, generallyrectangular, grabber body 58 which is widened at 59 as indicated in FIG.8. A ring body 60 has an integral, bifurcated bracket or neck 61embracing the narrower portion of body 58 and a bolt 62 pivotallysecures the bracket to the body 58, the ring body having only limitedmovement with respect to the grabber body. Since the bracket 61 iscomparatively loose with respect to the grabber body 58, a rattlepreventing strip of foamed plastic or foamed rubber 61a may be end oflever 71 is bifurcated and is pivotally connected to the flattened endof a plunger rod 73 by a pin 74 (FIG. 7). The other, free end of rod 73is flattened and provided with a hole 75 for a purpose to be described.

At the point of alignment with the bifurcated ring body bracket 61 (FIG.10), the lever 71 has a downwardly projecting tongue 76 extending downinto the ring body 60 which has a hollow opening downward. In thishollow a friction pad 77 is secured having limited movement up and down'within the ring body 60, as shown in FIG. 9.

The friction pad 77 has an oblique seat 78 for the tongue 76 and has aflange 79 therearound at its top providing a downwardly facing shoulder80. The ring portion 81 of the ring body 60 has secured therearound aringed layer 82 of nylon or other low friction material having acoefficient of friction of less than 0.2 against stainless steeLTheringed layer 82 has a flange 83 extending inwardly under ring portion 81and therebeyond providing a stop cooperating with shoulder forpreventing pad 77 from falling out of the hollow interior of the ring60.

The pad 77 has a surface layer 85 of a material having a highcoefficient of friction partially inset in the bottom surface of thedisk, as shown, and secured thereto by adhesive. Layer 85 is shownexaggeratedly thick in FIG. 9 and the material used is a high densityrubber having a coefficient of frictionv with the belt slightly higherthan when dry.

It will now be apparent that the grabber 'body 58 holds the pad 77 andring 81 laterally offset from mast 32, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, forengagement with the upper run 36a of the belt approximately at itscenter. Since mast 32 is at an angle of substantially 60 with theroadbed and lift 30 is substantially parallel with the roadbed, thebifurcated bracket 61 extends at an angle of substantially 60 from thepad body 60 for supporting the flat annular lower working surface ofring 81 ferred to as low-friction and the disk will be referred to ashigh-friction.

For guiding pad 77 for movement on a line parallel to the direction inwhich lever 71 and its tongue 76 are adapted to move, two holes 86 areprovided in the bracket 61, as shown in FIG. 10. A pin 87, shown in FIG.9, is secured in each hole 86 and projects into an aligned hole (FIG. 9)in pad 77. To lengthen these aligned holes, pad 77 is provided with acircular boss 88 at the end of the hole, the boss 88 being counterboredin a circular hole in the rubber friction layer 85. The circular bossesalso serve to help fix the rubber layer in place.

Referring now to FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, the plunger rod 73 within thehollow mast 32 is connected by a bolt 89 to a pressure regulatormechanism shown in FIG.

11, which shows in section a portion of mast 32 below the portion shownin FIG. 10. The upper end of bolt 89 is forked and secured to rod 73 bya pin 90 through hole 75 shown in FIG. 7.

The lower end of bolt 89 is threadedly connected to a serrated nut 91,the longitudinally extending serrations of which are clearly shown inFIG. 12. A window 92 is provided in one side of mast 32 through which ascrewdriver or other tool may be inserted to turn the nut 91.

The lower end of nut 91 is tubular, being internally threaded for thebolt 89 and at its lower extremity the nut is connected by a swivelconnection at 93 to a rod or wire 94. In a portion of the mast belowthat shown in FIG. 11., the wire 94 is connected, as shown in FIG. 13,to one end of a lever 95 which extends through an appropriate opening inmast 32 and projects therefrom.

Lever 95 is pivotally supported on a bracket secured to the mast by apin 96. The projecting end of lever 95 has a cup-shaped socket 97secured thereon and a similar socket is secured by a hollow screw 98threaded through a bracket 99 below and spaced from lever 95. Anexpansion coil spring 100 extends between the two sockets puttingtension on the wire 94 and through the elongated linear elements abovedescribed inside the mast and through lever 71 biasing the pad 77downward and outwardly from the ring 81.

A grabber or clutch disabling mechanism is operable by means of a lever101 shown mounted on a bicycle handlebar 102 fragmentarily shown in FIG.13. One end of lever 101 is connected by a wire 103 extending from thelever through the hollow screw and spring to the projecting end of lever95, as shown. By operation of lever 101, lever 95 is moved toward aposition, shown in broken lines in FIG. 13, relieving the tension onwire 94. It will be apparent that instead of the hand operated lever101, the wire 103 may be connected to a foot operated pedal such as abrake pedal so that the clutch 33 may be disengaged from the lift beltby applying the brakes.

Referring again to FIGS. 6 and 10, the grabber body 58 has a dependinghardened steel shoe 104 secured thereto and projecting downward betweenring 60 and mast 32 to cooperate with the lifter 54. It will also benoted that a strip 105 (FIG. 6) of low friction material extends along alift 30 above the hold down angle 51 for guiding the clutch in the lift.The left edge of strip 105 is adapted to contact and guide mast 32 andthe right edge is adapted to contact and guide the pad 60 when it isengaged with the belt 36.

In operation; the grabber mechanism 33 acts as a clutch when it engageswith the belt 36. A vehicle 31 entering a lift 30 has its grabber shoe104 (FIG. 6) engaged by the curved upper edge of the lift plate 54(FIGS. 5 and 6), lifting the grabber device above the belt upper run 35aand then dropping the ring body 60 and disk 77 onto the belt. When avehicle makes a fast entry the ring and disk do not grip the belt,because their backward drag tends to lift the sloping mast and sorelieve the force. When the speed of the vehicle has been reduced by theupslope to substantially the speed of the belt, the forward pull of theclutch pad is converted by tthe mast into a proportionate downward pullwhich locks the clutch solidly to the belt.

When a vehicle make a slow entry, however, the operation of the grabberdevice prevents an immediate secure engagement with the belt which mightcause an objectionable surging forward of the vehicle. The disk or pad77 is spring biased outward of the ring 81 and when the pad engages thebelt with more than a maximum permitted friction, depending on thetension setting of spring 100, the spring bias is overcome and the ring81 is forced against the belt by reason of its connection to the grabberbody. The pad and the ring both exert pressure on the belt, the formerbeing high frictional and the latter comparatively low frictional. Thetotal friction applied to the belt has a ring component and a padcomponent and the total friction is governed by the tension exerted byspring 100. When the total friction is too great the pad is pressed intothe ring against the bbias of the spring and the ring component becomesproportionally larger and, the ring being low frictional, the totalfriction becomes less. When the total friction is too small the springforces the pad out of the ring and the pad component becomesproportionally larger increasing the total friction. When a vehiclefirst enters a lift there is always some friction, the maximum permittedfriction, which continues until the speed of the vehicle is increased tothe speed of the belt.

The ring 81, which has a low friction working surface is annular and thepad 77 which has a high friction working surface is disk-shaped and liesinside the ring for the sake of compactness. It will be apparent thateach part may be of any shape so long as the one has a flat low frictionsurface and the other has a flat high friction surface, the operation isthe same so long as both parts have a common support from the grabberbody and so long as the high friction parrt is spring biased downwardwith respect to the other part. The spring bias determines the maximumpermitted friction. Both parts are forced against the belt and eachprovides a component of the total frictional engagement with the belt.Until the high frictional part is depressed with respect to the lowfrictional part, the total frictional engagement is the maximumpermitted frictron.

After the shoe 104 leaves the lift guide 54 the friction of the grabberwith the belt tends to hold the pad and ring at the center of the belt.Should slippage occur, however, the strip of nylon (FIG. 6) between ring60 and mast 32 prevents more than minimal transverse movement of thegrabber with respect to the belt.

Other than in urban areas, viaducts 20 usually extend radially of theurban area or in directions dictated by the intended use. In FIG. 15,the viaduct 20 is built on terrain 106 sloping upward and in FIG. 16 theviaduct is built on terrain 107 sloping downward. An entrance ramp 108and an exit ramp 109 are indicated in the-latter Figure.

An interchange 110 is indicated in F 1G; 17, showing I roadbeds only forreasons of clarity, such'as would be provided-in urban areas. An east towest viaduct would be provided along one street and a west to eastviaduct would be provided along the next parallel street, for example. Ig

in FIG. 17 a westbound way is indicated at 111 and a northbound way at112; An upslope with lift is shown at 113 and a level or downslope ramp114 is provided for westbound vehicles desiring to change direction tothe north. At 115 an upslope ramp is provided complete with lift fornorthbound vehicles desiring to turn west. An exit ramp is shown at 116and an entrance ramp, with lift, is shown at 117. A similar interchangewould be provided for all intersections so that vehicles can proceedover the routes and to the destinations desired by their passengers.

Also by way of example, a connection between a mast 32, of a vehicleshown fragmentarily at 31, and the conventional steering mechanism ofthe vehicle is shown in FIG. 18. The mast is mounted at 119 on a shaftand on the shaft a pulley or capstan 120 is secured below the roof. Anendless cord or belt 121 is looped around the capstan 120 and around asimilar capstan 122 keyed to the steering rod 123 of the vehiclesteering mechanism, the belt 121 passing over directional change pulleys124 all within the vehicle, as shown. With this arrangement or with asimilar arrangement of connecting rods known in the art, lateralmovement of the grabber 33 at the top of the mast aids the normalsteering of a passenger to turn the vehicle when a plate 67, such asshown in FIGS. 7 and 8, comes in contact with a side guiderail 34 or alift entrance guide 35 such as shown in FlG. 3.

We claim:

1. A viaduct for small and powered wheeled vehicles has an enclosedunidirectional way, the way roadbed being substantially planar andcomprising comparatively long downslopes alternating with comparativelyshort upslopes, each vehicle having an upwardly projecting mast adaptedto steer the vehicle, each downslope being of a width sufficient for atleast two vehicles abreast and having an overhead guiderail'at each sideadapted to contact a mast top to steer a vehicle away from the waysidewall, each upslope having endlessbelt lift means and convergingoverhead guiderails at the bottom end of the lift means for contact witha mast top to guide a vehicle to the lift means, each mast top having agrabber adapted to automatically engage the lift means belt at thebottom of the lift means and to be automatically disengaged therefrom atthe top of the lift means, and entrance ramp and exit ramp means for thevehicles, whereby the vehicles are automatically towed up the liftmeans, can pass one another on the downslopes and are capable of travelboth on and off the way. V

2. The viaduct defined in claim 1 wherein each upslope has the samenumber of endless-belt lift means as the number of vehicles abreastaccommodated by the downslopes, whereby there is no delay of vehicles atthe lift means.

3. In combination, an enclosed unidirectional vehicle way having asubstantially planar roadbed, aand a plu rality of lightweight, rubbertired wheeled. powered vehicles; the roadbed consisting of alternating,comparatively-long, gently sloping, downslopes and comparatively-short,comparatively-steep upslopes; the upslopes and downslopes beingarcuately joined; each vehicle having an upwardly and forwardlyprojecting substantially non-rigid mast connected to the vehicle fortowing it and for intermittently steering it; each downslope being of awidth capacity for at least two vehicles abreast and having an overheadguiderail at each side adapted to contact a mast top to steer a vehicleaway from the adjacent way sidewall; each upslope having endless-beltlift means equal in number to the numberof-vehicles-abreast downslopecapacity and converging, overhead guiderails at the bottom end of eachlift means for contacting the vehicle mast tops to guide the vehicle tothe lift means; each mast top having a grabber adapted to automaticallyengage the lift means belt at the bottom of the lift means and to beautomatically disengaged therefrom when the vehicle reaches the top ofthe upslope; and entrance ramp means and exit ramp means for thevehicles; whereby the vehicles are automatically towed up the upslopes,can pass one another on the downslopes, and are capable of travel bothon and off the way.

4. The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 3, wherein the wayis elevated, and the entrance ramp means are upslopes havingendless-belt lift means and converging overhead guiderails associatedtherewith, the exit ramp means being downslopes and having overheadguiderails at each side.

5 The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 3, wherein each masttop grabber has a pad adapted to frictionally engage the lift meansbelt.

6..The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 3 wherein'theendless-belt lift means comprises an endless belt of flexible materialand a supporting roller at each end of the lift, one of the rollersbeing driven by motor means, the upper run of the belt being supportedby sheet material having an upper surface of a material having a lowcoefficient of friction with the belt, and the mast-carried grabbercomprises a grabber body secured to the mast and two friction memberseach supported by the grabber body and having a flat workingsurfaceadapted to contact the upper surface of the belt upper run, the workingsurface of one member being of.

a material having a low coefficient of friction with the engaged beltsurface and the working surface of the other member being of a materialhaving a high coefficient of friction with the engaged belt surface, thehigh friction surfaced member being biased toward the engaged beltsurface with respect to the low friction surface member, whereby a slowentry of the vehicle onto the lift results in slippage of the grabberwith respect to the belt until the vehicle reaches a speed substantiallyequal to the speed of the belt and the slope of the mast prevents fullengagement of the friction members with the belt for a fast entry of avehicle onto the lift until the vehicle speed is slowed to substantiallythe speed of the belt by the upslope.

7. The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 3 wherein theendless-belt lift means comprises an endless belt of flexible metal anda supporting roller at each end of the lift, one of the rollers beingdriven by motor means, the upper run of the belt being supported bysheet material having a low coefficient of friction upper surface, andthe mast-carried grabber comprises a disk-like friction pad having aworking surface of material having a high coefficient of friction and aring of material having a working surface of a low coefficient offriction loosely surrounding the pad, the ring and pad being pendentlysupported from a grabber body laterally offsetting the ring and the padfrom the mast top, the pad being spring biased outward from the ring,the ring being supported by a bracket projecting from the grabber bodyat an angle to the body for carrying the ring and pad flat with respectto the upper surface of the belt, the pad being guided on a plurality ofpins secured to the bracket and telescopically received in holes in thepad for allowing limited movement of the pad with respect to the ring ina direction substantially aligned with the grabber body, whereby a slowentry of the vehicle onto the lift results in slippage of the grabberuntil the vehicle reaches a speed substantially equal to the speed ofthe belt and the slope of the mast prevents full engagement of thegrabber with the belt for a fast entry of a vehicle onto the lift untilthe vehicle speed is slowed to substantially the speed of the belt bythe upslope.

8. The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 7 having a grabberbody substantially U-shaped in cross section, and having a lever of thesecond class pivotally secured to the grabber body at one end andextending between the legs of the U-shaped body, the other end of thelever being pivotally secured to one end of a series of elongatedlinearly extending elements connected end to end, the vehicle mast beinghollow and the elongated elements extending inside the mast, the leverhaving a downwardly extending portion between its ends in contact withthe grabber pad, and the series of elongated elements connecting thelever with spring means associated with the vehicle mast, whereby thespring means biasing the pad outward from the ring is positioned remotefrom the grabber device.

9. The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 8 wherein the seriesof elongated elements include one element terminating in a bolt andanother element terminating in a nut, the nut and bolt being threadedlyconnected, and the mast having an opening therein aligned with the nut,whereby the nut may be turned to regulate the spring pressure applied tothe pad.

10. A transportation system having a plurality of viaducts for travel indifferent directions, and a plurality of lightweight rubber-tiredwheeled-vehicles; each viaduct being an enclosed, unidirectional,vehicle way having a substantially planar roadbed consisting ofalternating, comparatively-long, gently sloping, downslopes andcomparatively-short, steeply sloping upslopes, the upslopes anddownslopes being arcuately joined; each vehicle being powered for selfpropulsion and having an upwardly and forwardly projecting, nonrigid,mast connected to the vehicle for towing it and for assisting in thesteering of the vehicle by a passenger; each downslope being of a widthcapacity for at least two vehicles abreast and having an overheadguiderail at each side adapted to contact a mast top to steer a vehicleaway from the adjacent way sidewall; each upslope having lifts equal innumber to the number of vehicle-abreast-downslope-capacity, each lifthaving an endless belt of flexible metal and a supporting roller at eachend of the belt, one of the rollers being driven by motor means, theupper run of the belt being supported by sheet material having a lowfriction upper surface; each lift having converging, overhead guiderailsat its bottom end for contacting the mast tops to guide the vehicle tothe lift means; each mast top having a grabber adapted to automaticallyengage the lift belt at the bottom of the lift and to be automaticallydisengaged therefrom at the top of the lift, the grabber including adisk-like pad having a high friction working surface and a ring of lowfriction material loosely surrounding the pad, the ring and pad beingpendantly supported from a grabber body laterally offsetting the ringand pad from the mast top, the pad being spring biased outward from thering, the ring being supported by a bracket projecting from the grabberbody at an angle to the body for carrying the ring and pad flat withrespect to the upper surface of the belt, the pad being guided on aplurality of pins secured to the bracket and telescopically received inholes in the pad for allowing limited movement of the pad with respectto the ring in a direction substantially axial of the ring and the pad;each way having at least one vehicular exit downslopes ramp, the exitramp having an overhead guiderail at each side; and each way having atleast one vehicular entrance upslope ramp, the entrance ramp having anassociated lift and associated overhead, converging guide rails at thebottom of the associated lift.

1. A viaduct for small and powered wheeled vehicles has an enclosedunidirectional way, the way roadbed being substantially planar andcomprising comparatively long downslopes alternating with comparativelyshort upslopes, each vehicle having an upwardly projecting mast adaptedto steer the vehicle, each downslope being of a width sufficient for atleast two vehicles abreast and having an overhead guiderail at each sideadapted to contact a mast top to steer a vehicle away from the waysidewall, each upslope having endless-belt lift means and convergingoverhead guiderails at the bottom end of the lift means for contact witha mast top to guide a vehicle to the lift means, each mast top having agrabber adapted to automatically engage the lift means belt at thebottom of the lift means and to be automatically disengaged therefrom atthe top of the lift means, and entrance ramp and exit ramp means for thevehicles, whereby the vehicles are automatically towed up the liftmeans, can pass one another on the downslopes and are capable of travelboth on and off the way.
 2. The viaduct defined in claIm 1 wherein eachupslope has the same number of endless-belt lift means as the number ofvehicles abreast accommodated by the downslopes, whereby there is nodelay of vehicles at the lift means.
 3. In combination, an enclosedunidirectional vehicle way having a substantially planar roadbed, aand aplurality of lightweight, rubber tired wheeled, powered vehicles; theroadbed consisting of alternating, comparatively-long, gently sloping,downslopes and comparatively-short, comparatively-steep upslopes; theupslopes and downslopes being arcuately joined; each vehicle having anupwardly and forwardly projecting substantially non-rigid mast connectedto the vehicle for towing it and for intermittently steering it; eachdownslope being of a width capacity for at least two vehicles abreastand having an overhead guiderail at each side adapted to contact a masttop to steer a vehicle away from the adjacent way sidewall; each upslopehaving endless-belt lift means equal in number to thenumber-of-vehicles-abreast downslope capacity and converging, overheadguiderails at the bottom end of each lift means for contacting thevehicle mast tops to guide the vehicle to the lift means; each mast tophaving a grabber adapted to automatically engage the lift means belt atthe bottom of the lift means and to be automatically disengagedtherefrom when the vehicle reaches the top of the upslope; and entranceramp means and exit ramp means for the vehicles; whereby the vehiclesare automatically towed up the upslopes, can pass one another on thedownslopes, and are capable of travel both on and off the way.
 4. Theway and vehicle combination defined in claim 3, wherein the way iselevated, and the entrance ramp means are upslopes having endless-beltlift means and converging overhead guiderails associated therewith, theexit ramp means being downslopes and having overhead guiderails at eachside.
 5. The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 3, whereineach mast top grabber has a pad adapted to frictionally engage the liftmeans belt.
 6. The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 3wherein the endless-belt lift means comprises an endless belt offlexible material and a supporting roller at each end of the lift, oneof the rollers being driven by motor means, the upper run of the beltbeing supported by sheet material having an upper surface of a materialhaving a low coefficient of friction with the belt, and the mast-carriedgrabber comprises a grabber body secured to the mast and two frictionmembers each supported by the grabber body and having a flat workingsurface adapted to contact the upper surface of the belt upper run, theworking surface of one member being of a material having a lowcoefficient of friction with the engaged belt surface and the workingsurface of the other member being of a material having a highcoefficient of friction with the engaged belt surface, the high frictionsurfaced member being biased toward the engaged belt surface withrespect to the low friction surface member, whereby a slow entry of thevehicle onto the lift results in slippage of the grabber with respect tothe belt until the vehicle reaches a speed substantially equal to thespeed of the belt and the slope of the mast prevents full engagement ofthe friction members with the belt for a fast entry of a vehicle ontothe lift until the vehicle speed is slowed to substantially the speed ofthe belt by the upslope.
 7. The way and vehicle combination defined inclaim 3 wherein the endless-belt lift means comprises an endless belt offlexible metal and a supporting roller at each end of the lift, one ofthe rollers being driven by motor means, the upper run of the belt beingsupported by sheet material having a low coefficient of friction uppersurface, and the mast-carried grabber comprises a disk-like friction padhaving a working surface of material having a high coefficient offriction and a ring of material having a working surface of a lowcoefficient of friction looSely surrounding the pad, the ring and padbeing pendently supported from a grabber body laterally offsetting thering and the pad from the mast top, the pad being spring biased outwardfrom the ring, the ring being supported by a bracket projecting from thegrabber body at an angle to the body for carrying the ring and pad flatwith respect to the upper surface of the belt, the pad being guided on aplurality of pins secured to the bracket and telescopically received inholes in the pad for allowing limited movement of the pad with respectto the ring in a direction substantially aligned with the grabber body,whereby a slow entry of the vehicle onto the lift results in slippage ofthe grabber until the vehicle reaches a speed substantially equal to thespeed of the belt and the slope of the mast prevents full engagement ofthe grabber with the belt for a fast entry of a vehicle onto the liftuntil the vehicle speed is slowed to substantially the speed of the beltby the upslope.
 8. The way and vehicle combination defined in claim 7having a grabber body substantially U-shaped in cross section, andhaving a lever of the second class pivotally secured to the grabber bodyat one end and extending between the legs of the U-shaped body, theother end of the lever being pivotally secured to one end of a series ofelongated linearly extending elements connected end to end, the vehiclemast being hollow and the elongated elements extending inside the mast,the lever having a downwardly extending portion between its ends incontact with the grabber pad, and the series of elongated elementsconnecting the lever with spring means associated with the vehicle mast,whereby the spring means biasing the pad outward from the ring ispositioned remote from the grabber device.
 9. The way and vehiclecombination defined in claim 8 wherein the series of elongated elementsinclude one element terminating in a bolt and another elementterminating in a nut, the nut and bolt being threadedly connected, andthe mast having an opening therein aligned with the nut, whereby the nutmay be turned to regulate the spring pressure applied to the pad.
 10. Atransportation system having a plurality of viaducts for travel indifferent directions, and a plurality of lightweight rubber-tiredwheeled-vehicles; each viaduct being an enclosed, unidirectional,vehicle way having a substantially planar roadbed consisting ofalternating, comparatively-long, gently sloping, downslopes andcomparatively-short, steeply sloping upslopes, the upslopes anddownslopes being arcuately joined; each vehicle being powered for selfpropulsion and having an upwardly and forwardly projecting, non-rigid,mast connected to the vehicle for towing it and for assisting in thesteering of the vehicle by a passenger; each downslope being of a widthcapacity for at least two vehicles abreast and having an overheadguiderail at each side adapted to contact a mast top to steer a vehicleaway from the adjacent way sidewall; each upslope having lifts equal innumber to the number of vehicle-abreast-downslope-capacity, each lifthaving an endless belt of flexible metal and a supporting roller at eachend of the belt, one of the rollers being driven by motor means, theupper run of the belt being supported by sheet material having a lowfriction upper surface; each lift having converging, overhead guiderailsat its bottom end for contacting the mast tops to guide the vehicle tothe lift means; each mast top having a grabber adapted to automaticallyengage the lift belt at the bottom of the lift and to be automaticallydisengaged therefrom at the top of the lift, the grabber including adisk-like pad having a high friction working surface and a ring of lowfriction material loosely surrounding the pad, the ring and pad beingpendantly supported from a grabber body laterally offsetting the ringand pad from the mast top, the pad being spring biased outward from thering, the ring being supported by a bracket projecting from the grabberboDy at an angle to the body for carrying the ring and pad flat withrespect to the upper surface of the belt, the pad being guided on aplurality of pins secured to the bracket and telescopically received inholes in the pad for allowing limited movement of the pad with respectto the ring in a direction substantially axial of the ring and the pad;each way having at least one vehicular exit downslopes ramp, the exitramp having an overhead guiderail at each side; and each way having atleast one vehicular entrance upslope ramp, the entrance ramp having anassociated lift and associated overhead, converging guide rails at thebottom of the associated lift.